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In April 2015, five long-haired Australian lads moved from a small beach town called Byron Bay to the monolithic German capital Berlin. In the process their sound evolved into the smoothest disco funk this side of Daft Punk’s 2013 album ‘Random Access Memories’. They call themselves Parcels and the move proved to be a masterstroke, soon signing to Parisian fashion label-cum-chic-music-factory Kitsuné.

Parcels have the underground techno allure of hip Berlin, the laid-back charm of coastal Australia and the the chic indie disco leanings of Kitsuné, who discovered Phoenix, Years & Years and La Roux. The merging of these disparate worlds creates an exhilarating combination as they look poised to let their extraterrestrial funk loose on the world.

On their European evolution the band says: “We wanted to go explore, to live in the city, to push ourselves to the limit with music. Yeah we lived in a paradise and yeah Australia's music scene is thriving right now but it still felt isolated and Europe had such a magnetic pull.”

It may be the perfect setting for their musical inspiration but the Berlin life hasn’t been so glamorous. “Life in Berlin can be rough,” Parcels concede, “our hair freezes into icicles, we spend months living on stolen potatoes and sun can be a rarity but there is an indescribable charm. We hang out anywhere from the seediest Kebab shops and Kneipes, traditional German bars fitted with grumbling bartenders, cheap beer and that lovely stale ciggie smell, to lush rooftop bars and Austrian restaurants with the finest crumbed schnitzel.”

Stolen potatoes are all par for the course as an up and coming band. However fellow Australian bands like Tame Impala and Hiatus Kaiyote are now established global names and Parcels are bound to follow suit.

A tour with Kitsuné alumni Two Door Cinema Club awaits them in 2017 as well as a February show at Hackney’s Moth Club. Audiences will witness Parcels’ sparkling stage show with “giant disco balls, silver sequin backdrops and shimmering stage getups”.

Along with the tour, an EP ‘Hideout’ will be released on 27 January which the band describes as “a bittersweet pop record diving between confident dance grooves and uncertain wistfulness”. It sees the band continue their musical evolution from Byron Bay to Berlin towards disco nirvana.

“We're like five little sponges, constantly sucking up influence and changing ideas and inspiration. Development is the backbone of the project and we hope every release we ever make will mark a new evolution”.

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Parcels will release 'Hideout' EP on January 27th.

Words: Richard Jones

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